i can certainly relate and provide some insight here. i've been caught in a fear of ALS loop since feb-mar of this year. i did explain this to my doctor and also told him that i've developed health anxiety as a result of my symptoms. it's been pretty difficult to deal with but i go about my routine daily...i go to work etc...
you read it all the time...don't google symptoms or worse watch youtube videos covering such terrible diseases, but curiosity and fear and not wanting to deal with uncertainty get the better of you. it all started late 2015 early 2016. i started to have bouts of unsteadiness or feeling off balance. i started to notice i would fall asleep watching shows with my wife early in the evening. slowly symptoms began appearing, again the most concerning was the perceived balance issue although i could balance on one leg or pass a sobriety test just fine.
leading up to this was working two jobs and worrying about losing either. then the worries of losing the house, cars, health coverage etc... i also couldn't seem to relax on days off...always felt i should be doing something with the house...something always needed to be done it seemed. when i did little tasks...i also noticed they had to be done perfectly.
anyway, since 2016 i've dealt with such symptoms. initially i began worrying terribly about MS due to the off-balance sensation then other symptoms began appearing. low back pain, feeling sleepy or tired all the time. skin feeling warm in areas...then the tingling and numbness in the hands. the worst were the vibrating tremors under the skin in the legs when finally laying down to rest to go to sleep. luckily the tremors disappeared. odd symptoms have come and gone since early 2016.
then this year around feb-mar started fearing ALS. now i have body-wide muscle twitching daily. i wake up with stiff sore fingers and hands that work themselves out in 1-2 mins...then pain is gone. i have muscle fatigue. i have perceived weakness in my left hand and arm. legs feel rubbery and weird...shaky and weak. likewise, rock hard shoulder muscle as if they're extremely tense. my left shoulder feels numb and itchy deep within and painful.
of course, i've had blood work done...auto immune tests...MRI's for MS...late stage syphilis...whatever i could think of you name it. thyroid checked. xray of my entire spine etc... yet i could still do a pull up or go on a bike ride or even do a pushup on my finger tips. sadly, i do self checks daily...have done so for months now. it appeared my left arm was beginning to atrophy. felt as if i was getting clumsy with my left hand...fingers. at times i'd be lying down and see my left arm at an angle to where it looked like it was just bone and i'd freak out. then the next day it looked normal and fine and muscular even.
of course i threw all this at my doctor in april and he performed some neurological checks...walking in a line...hyperflexia...clonus etc... also, i've gained some weight since last visit. i started asking about EMGs etc...and he explained a abnormal emg doesn't necessarily indicate ALS...and went onto explain that in my current state i wouldn't clinically diagnose for any neurological disease. perceived weakness isn't clinical weakness as he explained and so on. he wants to see me again in 3 mos and surprisingly doesn't want to medicate me right now. he advised me to focus on mild to moderate exercise daily, starting with brisk walks or bike rides etc... he also emphasized eliminating caffeine as much as possible...entirely if i could. he explained if i feel as if i'm progressing for the worse when i see him again in aug '17 that he'll send me to a neuro regardless. he also wasn't against me doing to physical daily checks.
the sad reality is i realize i wouldn't clinically diagnose for such a terrible disease like ALS right now no matter how related my symptoms are. i also forgot, i have blurry vision only with LED items like microwave/oven clocks and alarm clocks. i also get tiny brief flashes of light in my vision...that disappear instantly. like a little snowflake appearing then dissolving instantly. sometimes i'll get these in my peripherial vision.
above all, as horrible as all these symptoms are i continue with my life. i'll force myself to exercise and so on. i also find that many who suffer from GAD have many of these symptoms and i realize this more daily as i read stories such as this. i've read people suffering worse with GAD to the point of not getting out of bed. there's still a lot of stuff i'm leaving out symptom wise i feel; i could go on all day with symptoms.
sorry for the novel, but i completely relate with the muscle pain and scary symptoms.